Monterrey and Cruz Azul will play at least 180 minutes of football to decide who advances from this CONCACAF Champions League Semi-finals battle. Get ready for the first 90 minutes!
Both teams should be fairly well rested for this game, as they have had some quiet days to prepare. Hopefully this will translate into lots of action on the pitch.
Monterrey form and stats
Only two Liga MX home games for Monterrey so far, yet both highs and lows with 1 win, 1 draw and 0 defeat. On the other hand, in the CONCACAF Champions League, Monterrey has performed like this (both home and away): 3 wins, 1 draw and 0 losses.
Monterrey manager J. Aguirre Onaindía and his team return home after a 1-1 draw away versus Mazatlan in the Liga MX. Midfield player Arturo González got a match rating of 7.64 in that game, the max score being 10. González scored one goal, hit one key pass and dribled passed the opponent 1 of 2 times. Vincent Janssen felt an ounce or two of guilt after the draw against Mazatlan as the player was unable to convert a penalty kick in the 16th minute.
Ahead of that match, Monterrey won a home game hosting Pumas UNAM (2-0).The bookmakers consider this a fairly even contest. One could say only the home advantage separates the teams. It could be relevant to look at how Monterrey have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found two matches with the results: Won one, drawn zero and lost one.
Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the Liga MX game versus Pachuca in only three days. This game is also played here at Estadio BBVA Bancomer.
At Estadio BBVA Bancomer, Monterrey has the goal stats of 3-1 (for/against) from 2 league fixtures.
Cruz Azul form and stats
Cruz was sent out of CONCACAF Champions League in the 8th finals last season.Four points from two away games for Cruz Azul, meaning one draw and one victory in the Liga MX so far. Total CONCACAF Champions League statistics for Cruz Azul: 3 wins, 1 draw and 0 losses.
It's the second away game in a row for Cruz Azul, but there's smiles all around after the 2-1 victory versus Necaxa in the Liga MX last time out. Attacker Brayan Angulo got a player rating of 7.2 in the game. "Man of the match" Angulo hit one key pass. Santiago Giménez came off the bench to score the winning goal in the match against Necaxa last time out, making the manager J. Reynoso Guzmán feel like a tactical genius.
Preceding that game, the 1-1 draw paying a visit to Santos Laguna.As mentioned above, this is an open game with no clear favourite. We have found twelve similar matches played by Cruz Azul in our archives, and the results are: five wins for Cruz, three draws and four defeats.
A new game in only three days for Cruz, the Liga MX home match versus Toluca. Busy days.
It's early days yet, but Cruz Azul has scored 3 and conceded 2 goals from their travels in the league so far (2 games).
Head 2 Head
Last ten meetings between the teams: Monterrey won three, Cruz Azul won four and three draws. three games with over 2,5 goals, seven matches with two goals or less.Top Goalscorers
  D. Vergara Hernández 2 goals |  S. Giménez 2 goals | M. Meza 1 goals |
Monterrey missing players
Cruz Azul missing players
| Monterrey | Cruz Azul | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 12 | 8 | Won | W | 7 | 16 | ||
| 8 | 4 | Drew | D | 4 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Lost | L | 1 | 2 | ||
| 46 | 23 | Scored | S | 14 | 39 | ||
| 22 | 9 | Conceded | C | 7 | 17 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 83% | 92% | ||
| 84% | 79% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 50% | 56% | ||
| 48% | 36% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 33% | 32% | ||
| 20% | 14% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 8% | 20% | ||
| 8% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 12% | ||
| 64% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 50% | 48% | ||
| 28% | 43% | Clean Sheets | C S | 50% | 48% | ||
| 8% | 7% | Failed to Score | F T | 17% | 12% | ||
| 5.4 | 4.9 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.7 | 5.1 | ||
| 4.2 | 3.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.1 | 5 | ||
| 2.2 | 2.2 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.8 | 1.6 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 13.7 | 15.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.3 | 12.7 | ||
| 4.6 | 4.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.2 | 4.6 | ||
| 36% | 33% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 34% | 35% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Toluca | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| 2 | Mazatlan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 3 | Leon | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 6 |
| 4 | Monterrey | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 5 | Santos Laguna | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Atlas | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | Atletico San Luis | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | America | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | Cruz Azul | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | -1 | 4 |
| 10 | Pachuca | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 11 | Guadalajara | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | Tigres UANL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 3 |
| 13 | Queretaro | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 2 |
| 14 | Puebla | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 |
| 15 | Pumas UNAM | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
| 16 | Tijuana | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 0 |
| 17 | Juarez | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 0 |
| 18 | Necaxa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -5 | 0 |